Jason Lee is way more than just a pretty face, but if you only want to gawk, Suzan Colon is fine with that.
You’d be amazed at how many Jane staffers have crushes on Jason Lee. Then again, maybe you wouldn’t. There were his charmingly smarmy turns in the cult hits Chasing Amy and Mallrats, his endearingly naive Bill Gates-like character in Mumford, and his ability to make even the evil Azrael seem sympathetic in Dogma. I mention his impressive resume first because we here at Jane are constantly striving to overcome the shallowness of liking actors only for thier looks. Striving, and failing miserably.
Oh, well, nobody’s perfect – though Jason, a 29 year old former skateboard champ, has a head start. When he called from his mom’s house in Mississippi, where he was visiting, he called right on time. (Good home-raising and no prima donna attitude scores nearly as many points with us as cuteness.) Because acting is still new to Jason, he likes to talk about the mechanics of it, about how he prefers doing stuff with writers/directors because of their “vision” – the kind of things actors talk about when they’re getting all actorly. It usually sounds pretentious, but really, when he said it, it didn’t come across that way. Now I know why all the girls at the office are in such a lather.
I have the usual bunch of all encompassing questions, but first I have to shamefully admit that I never knew you were a pro skateboarder.Yeah, I haven’t done it professionally for about three years, but I still skate for fun. Every once in a while I like to do it to see how rusty I am.
So it was you, not some body double, skating the ramps in Mumford.
Yeah. It was cool because the character wasn’t a skater – he probably skated to school, you know, and he just likes it a lot and thats how he gets around town.
After the you did Dogma, your third Kevin Smith directed experience, but your first wearing horns.
Fortunately, I didn’t feel them, except when I was taking off my fedora. I was going to play Loki, on of the leads, but I had a scheduling conflict, so Kevin gave it to Matt Damon and said I should play Azrael. The role is smaller, but if I played Loki, I would’ve been the wise-ass sidekick I was in Chasing Amy and in Mallrats. So to change it, I realized that this guy wasn’t born evil. Imagine spending millions of years in hell. You’ll do anything to get out, regardless of the consequences.
Whats the word most often used to describe you?
Um. . . Hmm, thats a good question . . . . [Pause to the point that I wonder if he’s put the phone down and walked away] Something that I’ve heard from other people?
Yes! [Relieved that he’s still there] Thats what I meant.
Hmm. . . Oh, I know. Fortunately it’s been people sort of noticing me just being a regular person. It sets a good example because a lot of people think of actors as being spoiled and on drugs and just whacked out of their heads.Um well, that’s because some of them are.Sure, absolutely so. A lot of how I am has to do with where I came from with skateboarding and stuff. I dealt with fame and making money, making mistakes and all the insecurity. I went from taking my friends out to dinner and buying new cars and going broke. All that stuff sort of prepares you for when you want to go into something else.
True. Okay, give me the pitch on your next movie, Stillwater, directed by Cameron Crowe.
Oooh. I can give you a little bit: early 70’s rock n roll band on tour followed by a young journalist trying to write a peice on them – onstage, backstage and the life that comes with that. I play the lead singer of the band [it also stars Billy Crudup and Jimmy Fallon].
You came prepared, because you’ve got a band already.
Yep. I know how to play guitar, and I watched a lot of documentaries. Plus I got insight from Peter Frampton, one of our consultants.
You looked so different for that part, with the long hair and beard. What did your wife, Carmen, think?
Uh, I think she got sick of the beard after a while.
How long have you two been married?
Four years, before I became an actor. She always gets suprised looks from people when she tells them that, because, you know, when male actors get famous they leave thier wives for someone who marries the actor because he is well known. But we met at a trade show when I was skateboarding. I used to have a signature show for Airwalk, and Carmen was working with a clothing company. I saw her pointing at these really cool red Airwalks, and being the not-knowing-what-to-do guy. I went up to her and said, “I can get you a pair of those.” [Laughs hysterically] That was my big line. I asked for her number and she gave me a fake one. But then we started hanging out more and she gave me her real number.
Oh dear. The potential of the Jane staff’s crushes seems seriously stunted based on that last paragraph. And how tragic, because Jason certainly proved himself to be worthy of our (admittedly shallow) affections.
